An Unquiet Grave

Husband Jamie (Jacob A Ware) and his sister-in-law Ava (Christine Nyland) are standing by the snow covered grave of his late wife and Ava's twin sister Julia who was killed a year ago. Still grieving its uncomfortable for both and as the conversation strains so does Jamie’s patience. Its coded but there could be something they can do.

Months later Ava and Jamie are driving to the spot where Jules actually died to enact a ritual. Ava is half-convinced, Jamie is more so but nervous. In a dark forest, at night scratching out strange symbols in the dirt, anointed by wine and later blood, it’s not long before we know what the ritual is about.

Despite this being well worn territory for around two-thirds of the film I was locked into the characters and the story. Understated though powerful performances from Ware and Nyland stem from director Terence Krey’s and Nyland’s wordy script, that asks something of the viewer too as the plot and story develop.

A two-hander, this is small scale, low budget filmmaking limited to the forest, house and car, Krey does a good job of building an uneasy tension and sense of dread as the film progresses and the results of the ritual become stark. This has a fundamental effect on the relationship between Ava and Jamie as feelings of guilt and loss cross and fester.

An Unquiet Grave is a study of grief from two perspectives, both somewhat confused and beaten by the events of the last year. It works on the premise that under incredible stress people take decisions that however initially well-meant have consequences. But more often than not there’s also an underlying self-interest that reveals a ruthless streak previously hidden.

This is Trey’s and Nyland’s feature debut and while is starts to sag a bit towards the end it’s a solid film and promises well for their forthcoming projects.

An Unquiet Grave is available now on Shudder.